My Little Numismatist

For those of you that don't know what a numismatist is...It simply is a collector or student of collecting coins, currency or related items.  Basically a coin collector!

As Tim and I raise our children.  When we see them have a deep interest in something that is educational and good.  We try to encourage it and provide every opportunity to experience things pertaining to it. We try to give them the tools to progress in that area and enjoy their hobbies to the best of their ability.

Every since Carolyn was a very small child she has been fascinated with coins.  Not the value and what you can buy with them.  Actually, because of her learning disabilities she has not even been able to learn what the different US coins are called and their value.  What she has loved, is the beauty she sees in them and on them.  The engravings and shapes and different metals used in the making of the coins of the world.  Most people who collect coins, collect a certain type of coin.  Like silver rounds for their value because most are one ounce of pure silver.  Or China Pandas for their art work and silver value.  Or collect all the different years of Indian head pennies or nickles when they made them.  People have an interest and want to collect a certain kind of coin.

With her...she likes coins with animals on them.  She also for some reason loves Queen Elizabeth.  So any coin that has Queen Elizabeth on them and an animal is going into her collection.  Since there is not many US coins with animals on them she loves foreign coins.  As many of them have all kinds of animals on them.  She also loves Abe Lincoln on coins.  So has a lot of different pennies and was thrilled when they did the Abe Lincoln penny series of his life. 

Since she loves to look at and collect these types of coins, my dad and I have been taking her to local coin shows for years.  Probably since she was about five years old.    She likes to walk up and down all the isles looking in the different cases, at the details of all the coins.  When we come upon a person that has a box of foreign coins (usually 5 for a 1.00)  she pulls up a chair and digs for long periods of time looking for coins she likes, thinks are pretty and has not seen before. 

We usually have two coin shows in the spring we take her to. One, an hours drive from our town and one a half hour from our town.  Then in the fall those same two places have them again.  So on those weekends my dad and I take her to them and she has such a good time and looks forward to going.  She saves her money so she can buy a few treasures.  Most of what she buys has very little value in the coin world but to her..they are her much loved hobby and treasures.

Recently, I had bought her some ways to organize her coin collection a bit better.  So she has been spending a lot of time putting all her little treasures in little plastic sleeves and into boxes.  She is having the time of her life and that is what a collection is supposed to bring you.  Enjoyment!

The last show we went to was last weekend.  At that show there was a booth set up by the Hobo Nickel Society.  Now if you don't know what a Hobo Nickel is.  It is coin art.  It has been going on for years.  For many years people have taken Indian-head nickles and re-carved the face or back.  Some are just stunning works of art and some very crude. It was an inexpensive, easily portable art form that Hobos did in their spare time and could carry around with them.  Thus the name.  The carvings are not always done on nickles but no matter what coin the art is carved into, the name is always the same.  I myself have always been fascinated with them since I was a child and have bought several very good ones thru the years for my collection.

Below is a normal Indian Head Nickle and one of my Hobo Nickles by it.

and another

So at the coin show was Mr. Archie Taylor in his booth from the Hobo Nickle Society.

Here (above) he is carving a work of art and showing Carolyn how he does it.

Above photo he is showing Carolyn how to hold the tool and below how to use it.

He was so wonderful with Carolyn and spent about an hour with her talking to her and even letting her try out carving her own nickle.

It was a very special time for her and a memory that she will not soon forget!

I just love it when God uses special people to make my children's day!  It does not happen often.  But when it does, boy it warms my heart.  May God bless Mr. Taylor 100 fold for his time and effort. 

2 Corinthians 9:6-15  But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.  And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

 

May we all daily look for ways to be Jesus hands and feet.  Taking the time to encourage and minister to those around us.  

Blessings, 

susan

Elizabeth's Hearing Loss

Over on Adeye’s blog, No Greater Joy Mom, she has been putting together a list of adoption related information for others to access if they are adopting a child with a certain special needs.  Kind of a resource list.   People who have adopted children in those cadigories link their blogs to each one that pertains to a child they adopted, so if someone is adopting a child they can read blogs about that special needs and gain encouragement and information by reading others blogs that have walked the road before them.

So since today’s category was a call to those that have adopted a child who was blind or hearing impaired, I thought I would write and share what we went thru with Elizabeth and her hearing as it was something we were not expecting. 

Most people that know us or follow here know that we adopted Elizabeth thru foster care.  She was born at 34 weeks and was a blue baby.  She never turned pink because she was born with a three chamber heart. (truncus arteriosis) She was taken right away in for a surgery to make a fourth chamber and re-route some plumbing so to speak.  To bring much needed oxygenated blood to the rest of her body.  During this operation they put her on a heart lung machine and fully opened her chest.  It was open heart surgery, broke ribs and all.  The nerves to a persons vocal cords run way down into your body and when they did the open heart, they either cut her nerves to her vocal cords or stretched them paralyzing her vocal cords in the closed position.  She had many breathing issues over the next weeks, went into respiratory failure and needed a trach in order to breath.  Most babies with heart issues also do not nurse very well and she was no exception.  She soon needed a g-tube in order to get all the daily calories she needed to grow.  We fed her our good goats milk and she thrived by the grace of God.   I know this is not about her hearing but I am sharing it because these are the things we KNEW about her when we took her as a foster child.  As it came time to adopted her she had lived with us from the time she was 12 weeks old and we knew she was going to need many more open heart surgeries in the coming years.  That she might need her trach and G-tube always.  (praise God they are gone)  That she had loss of oxygen at birth and has Cerebral Palsy. (very low tone)  We knew she had lung disease and got sick easily.  That she would need oxygen at times thru out her life.  That she needed kidney repair.  These things we knew BUT...Sometimes things come up that are unexpected along the way on your journey of raising a child, especially a child with special needs and her hearing loss was one that took us by surprise.

Her hearing was tested as an infant and there were not concerns.  As we raised her, she was in PT, OT and speech.  She learned to speak around her trach and it was kind of funny as all my kids were in speech and she, the one with the trach was discharged at three years old because she spoke so well and so clearly.  Because of this we never once gave a thought to her hearing at all.  Until she was five.  I started to notice that if I called the kids in off the playground she would continue to play and not even look up.  I remember once when the UPS guy was speeding down our long drive way and the kids were all playing on the playground and in the driveway up by the house.  I was working in my flower beds and saw him coming not knowing if he saw them or was going to slow down...I ran toward the playground yelling at the kids to quick go and stay back out of the way on the playground as a truck was coming.  She was riding a little ride on toy in the drive way and didn’t even look up.  I ran to her and moved her to the playground.  It scared me.  

I realized then that she might have a hearing issue.  As the few times her not responding in the past I blamed on her being rebellious and just not wanting to respond.  As she did that too.  :)  But this was obviously not that at all.  

I started to pay attention to her during schooling and she would turn up her head phones so loud when doing computer work.  She always sat very close to the TV on movie night and said it was not loud enough. She also often did not participate in conversation unless looking in our faces.  But yet she communicated well and so clearly.  So I took her in to her pediatrician.  She failed the hearing tests in his office that day and was sent to a specialist.  They did the ABR test.  Failed it.  They put her in a sound proof booth and she sat in a chair.  A lady sat outside the booth and they could see each other thru a window.  The lady said a word for her to say and Elizabeth said most of them great at all levels of hearing.  Then the lady did the different beeps and sounds at different frequencies.  Elizabeth failed many of them and didn’t hear them.  So the lady went back to, her saying words for Elizabeth to repeat but this time the lady hid her own mouth with a piece of paper.  Elizabeth failed.  She had read the ladies lips thru the window the first time around. 

After they finished the test it concluded that one ear did not even hear up into normal speech  And the other ear was impaired but did not need a hearing aid.  I felt like I had failed her.  Like I was the worst mom in the world to have missed this for so long.  I try to be so in tune to each of my children and their needs. To pray for them and try to give them the best we can so they can become their best too.  

So we got a hearing aid for her right ear.  We went back in six month and her hearing tested a bit worse in the left ear but they thought it was just her being so young that maybe that time was not as accurate.  They said not to worry about it.  We went back at a years time and this time her right ear had gotten worse and her left ear now did not hear up into normal speaking range.  It was clear now to everyone.  That Elizabeth was born with good hearing and has slowly lost her hearing over time.  That is why she speaks so well and can read lips so well.  She could hear well when she was learning to speak and as she slowly lost it she learned to be a very good lip reader. 

As of now, she has had a CT scan done to try to see why her hearing is degrading.  It was inconclusive but they did see the abnomalities.  They know she has some sort of undiagnosed syndrome that may be DiGeorges.  As so many of her effected body systems match up with that one.  

I wanted to put her into sign language classes and for all of us to learn it and they said that we could do it for recreation and fun but that since she used to hear, speaks so well and reads lips so well she most likely would not want to use it.  Also they said that there is a surgery that is called BAHA (Bone anchored hearing aids)  that will help her if her hearing were to degrade to a point normal aids do not help. 

Sitting waiting on the goo to harden that makes the casts for the part that goes in her ear to be made from.  They want a perfect fit.

So that is Elizabeth’s journey so far with hearing loss and needing her hearing aids.  Because she lost her hearing over time when she got her hearing aids she did not like them.  She did hear things she missed.  Like the day she got them she asked what that noise was and I said what.  She said like a bunch of little noises.  It was the rain hitting the window.  :(    She never remembers hearing that before.  Or once we were in a parking lot and she grabbed my arm and said what was that.  I said that beep beep sound.  She said yes.  It was someone remotely locking their car as they walked away from it.  She didn’t know we set a timer when cooking because it alerted us with a bing when things were done.  So many things. 

But she also felt off balance and a little dizzy when first going into hearing aids.  I think partly because she was aided in one side and not the other at first and maybe the input of sounds was at a different level.  When they added her other hearing aid she went thru it again for a week or so while getting used to wearing two of them. 

She is supposed to wear them all her waking hours.  They encourage her and want her to. If we are going to town, watching a movie or are having a busy day she wants to wear them and not miss a thing.  She runs to put them in.  But there are some days (usually two or three days a week) that she would prefer just to not wear them at all.  I will notice she does not have them in and I will say, where are your hearing aids and she will say,  I just need it to be quiet today.  I don’t want to hear anything.  :(  Bless her heart.  On those days I ask her to put them in at least during schooling and family time when we are all together but let her take them out on her down time when she is reading or something.  I personally would like her to have them in all the time because you never know when there might be an emergency and she will need to hear.  Like when we swim she can not wear them and several times I have needed to get her attention and she could not hear me.  Very scary.  Her next set of hearing aids she will be old enough to get the ones that can be swum in.  Praise God.  

I am so grateful to God for all He has done for me and my family.  For helping us thru the expected, in the children we adopted and unexpected.  For salvation.  For His healing power, love, guidance, protection, provision and faithfulness.  I am grateful for hearing aids so Elizabeth can hear.  God is so good!  We are just forever grateful.

Lamentations 3:22-23
22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

 Blessings, 

susan

Antonio's G.I. Appointment

On Thursday we went to Antonio’s long awaited appointment with his GI specialist.  I was having a hard day so Tim came home from work to take us.  :)     (Thank you all for praying for me over the last few days.  I am feeling so much better and back to walking well and driving again.  Just about back to normal.  God is so good. )

When we got to the appointment the first thing they did was get a weight on Antonio.  He is very hard to get an accurate weight on because he cannot stand on a scale and is too heavy for anyone to hold while on a scale.  There is no place local that we have found to take him to and easily get a weight on him.  The only places that have weighted him for us over the years is when he is in the hospital at Scottish Rite for a surgery/test or here seeing Dr.M.  So they took him down to the scale and weighted him in his wheel chair on a roll on wheel chair scale.  Then Tim and William got him out of his chair and lifted him onto an examination table and they weighted the wheel chair by itself.  Then they subtracted the wheel chair alone weight from the weight of him in it.  He weighed 120 pounds!!!  Big guy.  I can tell when trying to move him around by myself he has gotten heavy.  I cannot lift or move him at all without the Solo lift. 

Tim nor William can lift him alone at all anymore either.  They have to move him together and still it is hard as Antonio’s body is so large, misshapen and stiff. They only lift him with out the Solo Lift if they have to.  It is just to much strain on anyone's back.

After we got an accurate weight on him I sat with the nurse and went over what medications he is on.  Last time we were there he was only on inhalers for his asthma and those he only needed when having flair-up or a cold.  He has been put on a lot of medications over the last year trying to help him feel better with his asthma and stomach issues.   These two things are related.  As some of his lung issues are coming from him aspirating when he eats.

We love Dr. M.  He is a really great GI doctor.  I went thru many GI doctors when we first adopted Antonio as none would support me blending whole, healthy food and putting it in thru Antonio’s G-tube.  All the GI doctors we went thru wanted us to pop open a can liquid nutrition to put into his tube and let him grow on that.  I learned a long time ago by watching the g-tube fed kids that came thru our home and those of my friends I made from meeting them at the therapy place we went to.  Caned nutrition is easy.  Pop open the can and pour it in.  Quick, easy, clean.  But so concentrated it also is the absolute cause, many times, of reflux, vomiting and bowel dumping.  It is so concentrated and strong.  So full of sugar and fat that the body wants it out fast.  Many children on it look pasty and just don’t do well.  But parents are told of no other option.

When we adopted Antonio he was 6 and weighed 24 pounds.  He was failure to thrive.  The first thing I did was have him evaluated for a feeding tube.  As after a few weeks of him living with us,  I saw what a struggle it was for him to eat enough calories by mouth.  He got his g-tube.  We were prescribed a name brand, very widely used, liquid nutrition and right away he developed reflux and vomiting.  Even though he had a nisson done at that time to prevent vomiting.  He would retch with such force he would break thru the nisson. (I know, to much information) When we could keep the nutrition drink down his bowels would dump it.  We went to many GI appointments and had his formula changed many times even using an expensive predigested one.  He was on several stomach meds.  None worked for him.  So they just said, he is growing, basically deal with it. 

I hated seeing him feeling sick all the time and it was very hard to bath him and clean him up so many times a day where ever we were.   I prayed about it.  God is so faithful.  I knew healthy eating was very important and had the idea to get a super powerful blender and blend normal food that he would normally have been eating (blended with goats milk) and just put it in thru the g-tube.  He never had refluxed before the g-tube and caned formula.  So I blended a normal sized portion that he would have normally eaten and put it in thru his g-tube. (now here I must put in a disclaimer….do this at your own risk.  As many children have many different tummy issues that I might have never dealt with so be careful and find a GOOD GI doctor and pray to God)  

Antonio began to grow, felt well and did very well.  

No more refluxing and tummy meds needed.  No more dumping.  But the GI doctors hated that I was doing it.  They wanted a measurable caloric daily intake to report.  I went thru many GI doctors.  One even threatened to turn me in to DFCS if I didn’t go back to the formula way.  Then I found Dr.M.  and he said if it is working keep doing it.  I could tell Dr.M didn’t really feel 100% comfortable with it, but let me.  All he asked was for us to have more frequent visits so he could keep a closer watch on how Antonio did over time.  He had me come more frequently for weigh ins and check ups and after a year said…ok…..Just keep going.  See why we love him.  Now days it is much more prevalent to see moms making either “home brews”  or blending foods for their kids with feeding tubes.  But back then it was not done much.  Or at least I didn’t know of anyone doing it and the doctors surly didn’t know many either.  Or I would not have been given such a hard time by so many GI doctors. 

Over the years we worked with Antonio till he got strong enough to eat every meal by mouth.  

We only used his feeding tube for liquids as during one of his shunt failures,  at 8 years old, he lost his ability to protect his airway with thin liquids.  So he built up his strength to eat all his meals orally by mouth.  He has been eating all his meals by mouth for the last 9 years and got all his fluids thru his g-tube at night.  (Like with an IV pump, just going in thru his g-tube.)

So... at this visit to see Dr.M we explained all that has been going on with Antonio over the last year or so.  I explained how Antonio has been getting fatigued while eating and not protecting his air way and causing lung issues.  That we first gave up supper and started blending and putting it in thru his feeding tube because he was so fatigued by dinner time to chew and swallow correctly.  Then we had to do that for lunch and now he gets all his meals blended and put in thru his feeding tube.  He only eats for pleasure by mouth a few bites of chips or cookie here or there.  I explained the lung issues Antonio has been having.  How he is on so many nebulizer breathing treatments every day now to keep his lungs clear and open.  How disappointed and down I feel about working so hard all these years to help him be able to eat every meal by mouth and now it is gone. 

The doctor looked and Tim and I and said…Any typical person who lives a long and normal life span…if they do not die of another cause will eventually die from them losing their ability to eat and protect their air way.  Many people in nursing homes have feeding precautions because their muscles are losing the ability to act in split second coordination to eat and protect the airway.  That kids with Antonio’s type of CP have advanced ageing  in many areas. That it is the normal progression of things in children with his type and severity of CP for this to happen over time as they age. 

This made me very sad.  To know that Antonio has reached his peak and is regressing and that this is normal for his medical condition.  But…I am so grateful to God for his feeding tube now more than ever.  As I can still feed him very healthy food and protect his airway at the same time.

The other thing the doctor said was that Antonio is one of the largest, most muscular and healthiest kids that he sees with his type and degree of cerebral palsy.  Look how heavy and strong he is.

  

Dr.M said that Antonio is one of the oldest kids he sees and has made it father and lived longer than most with his condition.  This made me have very mixed feelings.  So glad our wonderful, sweet much loved son is still here.  But made me so much more aware of how hard we are going to have to work to keep him healthy.  We work very hard to take care of him now and keep him clean and growing and happy.  We have strict rules about people not coming into our home to visit if they even have a cold.  As a simple cold, flu or respiratory virus can put not only Antonio but Elizabeth into the hospital and has many times in the past.

The other thing Dr.M said is that he thinks that Antonio is aspirating on his own saliva at night while in the laying down position and that is why he is having such breathing attacks in the night needing breathing treatments.  So we are being referred to a pulmonologist (lung doctor)  Where if indeed they feel the same way about it, they will either prescribe a medication to dry his secretions in the night or do a surgery to tie off his saliva glands.  Sigh. 

So that is basically how the visit went and what we heard.  God is so good and faithful.  He has blessed us with one of the most wonderful sons we could every have asked for.  

Kind, loving, always praying, sweet, gentle, I could just go on and on.  

I am grateful for every day he has been with us.  He has been a blessing to us every moment. I feel much better after going and talking with his Dr.  I have a better grasp of why this is going on and now can release the me trying to fix it.  I give it all to God as I should have to begin with and I have decided I just want Antonio to be happy and comfortable every day for the rest of his life.  We treasure him now even more than ever and are praying for wisdom as to how to best do his care as these new issues come up over time. 

  

Proverbs 4:20-22  My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.   Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.   For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. 

Psalm 107: 19-21  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.   He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their  destructions.   Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

 

May the Almighty God in heaven be with you in your time of need.  May He lead and guide you in all you do, bringing health, strength and comfort to you always. 

Blessings, 

susan

 

 

 

 

One Hard Day

When I started this blog I had many reasons why I decided to go ahead and share our lives with others in this way.  One big one was to give glory to God.  Another was to keep friends and family updated.  Also to bring awareness to others as to how wonderful children with special needs are, to plant seeds of adoption in the hearts of those that God might call to this.  A small part as an outlet for my need to write.  There are many more reasons but those are a few.

I always strive to keep it real.  To share the whole truth.  To share the good, joyous,  miraculous, challenges, hard and bad.  To show we are human, we fail, we struggle.  But that thru it all God is so faithful and carries us.

Yesterday, I have to say was one hard day.  I have shared a little about my health with some people.  But don't think I have done a blog post going into any great detail of it all.   I have several autoimmune diseases.  My quality of life a few years ago was very poor and hard.  Many thought I was dying.  I did as well.   I saw all kinds of specialists, as many systems of my body was effected.  Most of my symptoms pointed to MS.  But that was ruled out.  Finally, I was told it was auto immune and my body was attacking itself.  Doctors wanted to put me on immune suppressants, cortisone and pain relievers.  I read about the long term effects of taking these and always try to do things healthy.  I also didn’t want a band aid on my symptoms I prayed for healing and answers.  I wanted to be well and here to take care of my husband and family God blessed us with.

I was exhausted all the time.  To the point of sleeping over 12 hours a night and still not being able to do any work once I woke up.  I had a really hard time thinking some days.  My body was going thru metabolic wasting.  My muscles deteriorating.  I could not do my house work.  I had trouble co-ordinating my body.  Walking was clumsy.  I was telling my legs and arms to work but the action was very delayed.  I could not climb stairs or drive.  I could not open a car door.  I had trouble texting and typing.  If I spent time out in the cold weather my legs just refused to work at all.  This went on for about two years.  I was just wasting away and getting weaker.  Oh how I prayed. 

God showed me that much of this was going on around food.  He started reveling to me patterns in my eating.  That when I ate a certain meal the next day my symptoms were much worse.  And when I ate a certain way my symptoms were better.  I was already eating pretty restrictive because of God helping me with my battle with food, all those years ago.  But now thru prayer and really listening HE really showed me what I needed to do to help me in my health crisis.  Praise God.  I slowly began to improve.  I now have about 20 foods I can eat without a reaction.  Plain, no spices, no salt.  20 foods.  I am grateful for every one of them. 

To keep this short, I will say that God did a true miracle and brought me from the brink of deterioration and feeling absolutely miserable every day, back to health.  That God brought me from not being able to care for my family to now having a good quality of life once again.  I am grateful for every day.

As long as I get enough sleep, keep my stress levels down and eat no foods that I am allergic to. (basically take care of myself)  I can walk smoothly, talk and have energy and strength.   If I mess with any of those things my body starts to attack the cerebellum of my brain and here we go again.  Not fun. 

I have been for the most part symptom free for a year now.   I have had a few smallish episodes a month here or there but nothing horrible like in the past.  Each  time I would quickly find the culprit and change.  Till yesterday.

I had a huge day on my schedule yesterday.  Normal taking care of my children, normal milking and barn chores. We also had a long awaited trip to see Antonio’s GI specialist to talk about his stomach issues and him losing his ability to eat by mouth.  The drive was an hour away  to see this specialist.

I had gotten up in the night once and noticed that my legs were not reacting as fast as my mind was telling them for walking.  But just thought I got up to fast and didn’t sit for a few moments like I normally do.  So I went back to bed and quickly fell asleep again.  

I get up an hour or so before the kids to read Gods Word in the quiet of the morning and to work on computer things.   When I woke up for the morning and started my day.  I had trouble reading Gods Word.  I had trouble typing and trying to answer notes people had sent me.  When I got up to walk I could not walk very well at all.  I had terrible vertigo and the world was spinning every time I moved.  I had not had a reaction this bad in about a year and forgot how bad they were.  It does not feel good to have very little control over your body and trouble thinking.  You feel like you are dying as even your heart beats weird.   A thousand terrible thoughts went thru my mind.   

I thought about my busy day ahead and that added a nice panic attack on top of it all and I started having trouble breathing.  I had William call 911.  Yes, I did.  As William called 911 I started to pray and God reminded me I didn’t die when I used to live like this every day before.  That He was right there with me.  That I just had to make it a few days till what ever I was reacting to would wash out of  my system...I talked to the 911 operator and told her I was breathing better and thought I would be ok.  I would call my husband and he would come home and take care of me.  She was very kind and said call back if I changed my mind and they would be glad to come out. 

Tim did come home.  I felt embarrassed to have to call him.  But he is so kind to me and his work place so understanding.  He was able to work it out to come home.  He helped me get everything in the morning done and took us to Antonio’s appointment.  He helped me walk around with out falling.  He brought a lot of our good well water with us for me to drink as that helps me get better faster.  To flush out the offending food/chemical.  He drove us everywhere we needed to go.  Little by little by the end of the day I was much less dizzy and able to get around much better with out help.  I could talk with out constantly stopping to try to find the words.  Praise God.  We sat down and narrowed it back to a few things I ate different.  A different brand of DE.  Non organic carrots and a bag of organic  non salted sweet potato chips.  I will not be eating any of those things again.  I guarantee it.  :) 

When I got up this morning I felt so much better.  I can type, think straight  and walk.  Just a little more tired than normal and am taking it slower as my balance is still a little off.  God is so good.  Going thru all I went thru yesterday,  just reminds me of how I lived my life day after day for almost 2 years.  How hard and discouraging it was and that God… Our amazing, wonderful, faithful God… brought me back to health.  How it brought me into even a closer relationship with Him.  How precious and life giving His Word was daily to me.  I clung to it.  It was my only hope as the doctors offered nothing.  They had no answers.   I appreciate every day so much and am grateful that He shared with me how to bring my body back to having a much higher quality of life. 

Praise God!  Praise God!  Praise God!

I just wanted to share this today.  To show the reality of our life and to give God the glory for all He has done.  To encourage you in your life.  To seek and trust till you find and receive the answers from God.  Be patient, He is faithful. 

Hebrews 13:5-6  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.  So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

A big thank you to all the people who pray for us daily.  We appreciate it more than words can say.  We always need it.  I will share what we learned and were told about Antonio’s GI appointment coming up next….

Blessings,

susan